Foundation garment



April 30, 1935'.

J. TAYLOR 1,999,792

FOUNDATION GARMENT Filed Sept. 21. 1933 Inqezz L 07;

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reamed Apr. 30, 1935 r 1,999,?92

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOUNDATION GARMENT Jessie Taylor, Indianapolis, Ind.

Application September 21, 1933, Serial No. 690,435

" 1 Claim. (01. 2-27) The object of this invention is to provide a latter and extending to the bottom of the body foundation garment which will hold up the bust front is a panel l2 of elastic cloth. in accordance with the prevailing style and which The back of the foundation garment extends will be comfortable to the wearer in sitting and from the end 9 to the seam Hi. It may be contin- 5 stooping and all unusual positions of the body as none but is preferably split down near the end 5 well as in the usual positions. 9 to form the ends l3 and I4. The ends l3 and The object also is to provide an elastic ab- M are provided with eyelets through which laces domen support which will reduce the accumula- I5, l6 and I! are passed for the purpose of holdtion of fat without uncomfortable pressure or ing the ends in more or less close relation to each 0 other discomfort and which can be adjusted for other, as will hereinafter more fully appear. At 10 figure improvement. such frequent intervals as may be desired the A further object is to provide a foundation garfront and back of the garment are provided with ment which will be easy for the wearer to put on vertical'casings l8 in which elastic stays are placed and take ofi without assistance and which when and retained. These stays may be of any suitl5 worn will hold the body in a constant graceful able structure and material but they will prefl5 and healthy position. a I erably be of steel, made and attached in accord- A further object is to provide a foundation garance with the instructions of Patent No. 1,854,530, ment with shoulder straps which will remain in issued to me April 19, 1932. correct position on the shoulders and which will Shoulder straps l9, l9, are secured to the front 0 hold the straps of other garments in place. and back of the garment, here shown as by I accomplislr the above principal objects, and means of buttons but other fastenings may be other objects which will hereinafter appear, by used. They extend over the shoulders of the the garment illustrated in the accompanying wearer in the manner shown in Figs. 5 and 6.

drawing, in which- They are formed out of elastic tape and are each Fig. 1 is an inside elevation of the garment open provided with a metal clip 20, 2!], each of which is 25 ready to be put on the body of a wearer; slidingly attached to its strip by passing the. strip Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of the garment, through a pair of slots 22 and 23, formed in the removed from the body of the wearer, but in lower member 2| of the clip. The clip is formed the position as it is worn, the section being out of a strap of spring metal bent U-shape to through that portion of the garment adapted for form the lower member 2! and an upper member 30 covering the abdomen; 24. The ends of members 2| and 24 normally Fig. 3 is an edge view of the metal clip for use contact .each other to retain the straps of other on the shoulder straps for attaching the straps garments which are slipped between the members of other garments; 2| and 24 by spreading the ends apart. Fig, 4 is a, top plan view of Fig. 3, broken away Sewed to the front of the garment on the inner 35 in part; side near the end 9 is a cloth strip 26 having a Fig. 5 is a front view of a woman wearing my series of eyes to be engaged by hooks, and sewed improved foundation garment, and to the inside of the garment front near the seam Fig. 6 is a back view of a woman wearing the I 0 is a cloth strip 21. Fastened by sewing or I 40 garment. otherwise, to the cloth strip 21 is an elastic all- 40 Like characters of reference indicate like parts rubber sheet 28, to the opposite edge of which in the several views of the drawing. rubber sheet a cloth strip 29 is fastened. The

The body I of the garment extends from close cloth strip 29 has a series of hooks, above reunder the arms of the wearer to approximately ferred to, to engage the eyes on the strip 26.

opposite the hip joints and has a split from top As indicated in Fig. 2, the sheet or band 28 is nor- 45 to bottom on one side, preferably the left side mally shorter in horizontal length than is the for convenience. The ends 8 and 9, thus formed, front portion of the body member I which lies are provided with hooks and eyes, respectively, for immediately in front of and between the ends of ready and convenient uniting and separation in the band 28. The rear portion of the body memputting on and taking off of the garment by the her I, Fig. l, bounded by the end 9 and seam I0, 50 wearer. A seam H1 at a corresponding place on has a central vertically disposed elastic panel 3| the right side defines the front of the garment, inserted therein to extend from top to bottom of which is the portion bounded on the side by'the the member 1. lines 8 and II]. The upper portion of this front The manner of using my foundation garment has the usual bust covers H, II, and between the is as follows: The garment being unhooked and 55 open at 8, 9, and 26, 29, the body of the garment is placed around the body of the wearer with the straps l9, l9, going over the shoulders. Then the rubber sheet 28 is brought around in front ofthe abdomen and its end 29 is hooked to the eyes of strip 26. Then the body front is folded against the breast and abdomen of the wearer and end 8 is hooked to end 9.

Should the laces l5, l6 and ll be too tight or not tight enough an adjustment is made in the laces to suit by the wearer herself, or this adjustment may be made by an assistant without removing the garment from the wearer.

The laces are preferably in a plurality of separate lengths I5, I6 and I! to enable the garment to be tightened or loosened for smaller or more particular areas of the body and to take up looseness as the figure changes duringthe wear of the garment. Referring to the drawing, particularly to Fig. 2, the sheet or band of rubber 28 is initially under greater tension on the wearer than is the panel [2. The tension on either the band 28 or panel l2, it is obvious, is transmitted through the body I to the rear elastic panel 3|. mediate lace I8 is drawn up tighter, the front elastic panel I2 is'then subjected to an increased tension. As the tension on the panel l2 increases, the panel 3| stretches and permits a forward travel of the body 1 therefrom so as to allow the band 28 to shrink in length and to have its relieved tension then carried by the front panel l2. This variation in tension on the band 28 through inverse variation in tension on the panel I2 is accomplished by adjustment of the intermediate lace IS without disturbing the adjustments of the top and lower laces i5 and N. This is desired since it is the abdomen which will change rather than the upper and lower portions of the body of the wearer. A particular advantage of the separate individual laces is that the intermediate lace may be employed to take up the garment through the central area immediately over the rubber sheet 28 so that the initial tension in that sheet may be reduced by tighter lacing of the intermediate lace. Thus it is possible to effect an adjustment of the central area without changing adjustment in the upper and lower areas of the garment since the intermediate lace l6 may-be adjusted independently of the upperand lower laces ii and I].

Now when the central or inter-' The straps of any other clothing are then caught under the clips l9. 7

It will be noted that the garment is made low in the back, so as not to show when low necked gowns are worn, and a narrow gusset 3| of elastic cloth extends from top to bottom of the middle back of the garment.

Variations in structure and size of parts, some of which I have indicated, may be made within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A figure supporting and reducing garment comprising a major body surrounding member made of flexible non-elastic material, said body member having a vertically disposed side opening throughout its height to be detachably closed by fasteners, upper, lower and intermediate individually controlled laces across a second vertical opening located adjacent the first opening, said series of laces providing means forjndependent local girth adjustments of the body member, a vertically disposed panel of elastic material interposed centrally of the back of the body member to extend from top to bottom thereof, and a like panel interposed centrally of ,the front of the body member, said body member being of sufficient height to extend from over the breasts of the wearer down over the hips, the upper front portion of the body member at each side of said central elastic panel being formed to receive and support the breasts; an elastic band within said body member engaging by one vertical edge with said body member at one side thereof to extend around forwardly within the member and detachably engage in non-adjustable relation by its other vertical end to'thebody member on its opposite side back of said first opening to extend across the abdomen of the wearer, said band being normally shorter in horizontal length than the horizontal length of the front portion of the body member between the band ends whereby the band is in initial tension greater than that of said front portion of said body member when the body member is closed at said first opening, said band tension being in opposition to that then set up in said rear panel, and said band tension being relieved by tighter lacing of said intermediate lace, said front panel being thereby subjected to increased tension to compensate for and distribute the tension otherwise on said band.

JESSIE TAYLOR. 

